NOTICES. Literary Notices. 35 Books noticed in THE STUDENT may be obtained by persons residing in any part of the United States, at their own post-office, free of postage, by inclosing the price here given, in a letter, post-paid, and directing it to N. A. CALKINS, 848 Broadway, New York. MINNIE HERMON; Or, the Night and its Morning. A Tale for the Times. By Thurlow W. Brown. Published by Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, Auburn and Buffalo. J. C. Derby, New York. 12mo; 472 pages; 4 illustrations; muslin. Mr. Brown is widely known as an interesting and vigorous writer; and in the work before us he has furnished a thrilling temperance tale, the scenes of which are drawn from life. Perhaps, reader, you have been surfeited with thread-bare narratives of the evils of intemperance; even if such be the case, just lay aside your prejudices long enough to read ten pages in "Minnie Hermon," and you will hardly lay aside the book until you have finished it. Every chapter carries to the conscience and heart of its readers convictions that fill them with earnest and eloquent appeals against the desolating tide of intemperance. Price by mail, $1 30. ELEMENTARY GEOLOGY. By Edward Hitchcock, D. D., LL.D. The Twenty-fifth Edition, Revised, Enlarged, and Adapted to the Present Advanced State of the Science. Published by Ivison and Phinney, New York. 12mo; 418 pages; Illustrated with three charts, and more than 200 engravings. Leather back and muslin sides. As an Elementary Geology, we know of no work containing as much of this science as the one now before us. It is comprehensive and full, treating, among other subjects, the constitution and structure of the earth, classification of rocks, description and origin of the various strata, the agencies in geological changes, history of Geology, and the relation between this science and natural and revealed religion. It would be superfluous for us to recommend a work which is highly commended by Professors Silliman, Rogers, Buckland, and many other scientific gentlemen of eminence. It has already reached its twentyfifth edition, and contains the results of all recent discoveries in this science. Price by mail, $1 30. THE WORLD'S LACONICS; Or, the Best Thoughts There, that's it, just what the title says: "the best thoughts of the best authors;" and we could hardly tell you more were we to write a page. But its great utility and con venience consists in the fact that these thoughts Number one, containing "The Air we Breathe, The Water we Drink, The Soil we Cultivate, and The Plant we Rear," is now ready. We can give no better idea of the style and interest of this valuable work than by referring our readers to an extract from it on page 8 of the present number. It should be read by the million. We will forward the numbers by mail, postage pre-paid, for 30 cents each. MERRIMACK; Or, Life at the Loom. A Tale. Published by J. S. 12mo; 353 pages. This work is by the popular author of "Summerfield, or Life on a Farm," and "The Master Builder, or Life at a Trade;" who has THE STAR IN THE DESERT. By the author of 2. Gay were his comrades then, buoyant with glee, 9:2 Careless of future life, and manhood's prime; "Study's for sleepy heads," bu-sy life-sporting so free; Joining the chorus wild, 3. Wildly from prison grates, notes of despair 4. Hark ye! a song is heard, notes full of joy, THE ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING. HE parents of ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING were natives of Lexington, Massachusetts, but they removed to Newburgh, Orange County, New York, soon after their marriage. His father had begun life as a wheelwright, but abandoned the trade to become a nurseryman. Andrew, the youngest of five children, was born October 30, 1815. The first years of his life were passed in the midst of one of the loveliest of landscapes. The cottage where he was born overlooked the broad bay which the Hudson River makes VOL. IX.-NO. 2.-JUNE, 1854. 38 ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING. before winding in a narrow stream through the Highlands of West Point. Across the river rose the Fishkill Mountains, stretching away to the north into gently sloping hills. Around him were the carefully trained trees and beautifully variegated flowers, whose odors were wafted on the balmy breezes. Such influences must have contributed to mold his character and tastes, and fill his mind with images of rural beauty. When Andrew was but seven years of age his father died, and his elder brother assumed the management of the nursery. Those who remember Andrew at this time speak of him as a thoughtful, reserved boy. The gravity of maturity came early upon him. He early manifested a fondness for botany, mineralogy, and other natural sciences. He spent several years at the Montgomery Academy,. in his native county, from which he finally returned home at the age of sixteen. His mother now desired him to become a clerk in a dry goods store, but his own fine taste and exquisite appreciation of natural beauty, his love of natural forms and the phenomena of life, determined him to choose some other vocation. Accordingly he decided to remain with his elder brother, who succeeded his father in the nursery garden. About this time Baron de Liderer, the Austrian consul-general, who had a summer retreat in Newburgh, discovered young Downing's love of the natural sciences, and his taste for the beautiful in nature. The two-although the baron was an old man-soon became hearty friends, and companions during many excursions for the scientific explorations of the surrounding country. This intercourse with a gentleman of large intellectual attainments, and of eminent purity of mind, and refinement of manners, was of great service in the development of Andrew's mind and the formation of his character. His sensibility to artistic beauty was cultivated by associating with the lamented Raphael Hoyle, an English artist, at that time also residing in Newburgh. Through these gentlemen he made the acquaintance and became familiar with several families of refinement and distinction. These associations, no doubt, did much to strengthen his refined and generous nature. This portion of his life was marked by a combined application to work and study, and notwithstanding little record is left of these years, yet their influence may be seen through all his after life and labors. When about twenty-one years of age he began to visit the beautiful residences upon the banks of the Hudson, to extend his experience and confirm his theories of art in landscape-gardening. During ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING. 39 these visits he was received cordially as a gentleman and a scholar, seeking to improve the tastes of those whom he met. He sketched, he measured, observed, and recorded his observations. These travels were usually brief, and strictly aimed at improvement in his calling, and he returned from them richly laden. In the new and boundless country around him, with its variety of climate and soil, Downing saw an opportunity for achieving a new triumph of art. From the chaos of mountain, lake, river, and forest he resolved to develop its resources of beauty for the admiration and benefit of its people. To lay out one garden well, in conformity with the surrounding landscape, in obedience to the truest taste, and to make man's home, and its grounds, as genuine works of art as any picture or statue that the owner had brought over the sea, was, in his mind, the first step toward the great result. In June, 1838, Andrew J. Downing, then in his twenty-third year, was married to Caroline, the eldest daughter of J. P. De Wint, Esq. At this time he dissolved the business connection with his elder brother, and continued the nursery by himself. There were other changes also; the busy mother of his childhood was busy no longer; she had now been for several years an invalid, unable even to walk in the garden. Her sons were men now, and her daughter a woman. The necessity for her own exertion was passed, and her hold upon life gradually loosened, until she died in 1839. Downing may now be said to have entered upon the career of his life. Very properly his first work was his own house, built in the garden of his father, a few rods only from the cottage where he was born. It was a simple house in the Elizabethan style; it was very simple, but very elegant, and was spacious, convenient, and gracefully proportioned. Wherever the eye fell, it detected that a wiser hand had been before it. All the forms and colors, style of furniture, pictures, and carpets, were harmonious, yet there was no rigid monotony. His favorite art was landscape-gardening, and he prepared a book upon this subject, which was published in 1841. This work soon became popular both in England and America. Dr. Lindley said of him: "No English landscape gardener has written so clearly, or with so much real intensity." During the following year he published "Cottage Residences," in which the principles of the first volume were applied in detail. This work also met with a hearty welcome, both within our own country and in England. European honors soon began to reach the young American gardener upon the banks of |